Need help with handwriting for DS5 what program to try?

[ilovejack02]

Talked to my cousin tonight, she just attended a workshop for Write out of the box and LOVED IT.
http://www.writeoutofthebox.com/index.htm
There is a kit you can buy for 60.00 comes with user guide. Lots of fun things for the kids to do to work on their fine motor skills. Of course lots of these things can be done with items from around the house.

She recommended that I put a bead in Silly putty and have him work the bead out with the hand he writes with only. He is sitting here with me right now having fun with that.
I might buy the kit but I think i can come up with all of this on my own.
She also mentioned when the kids write to have them hold a pom pom or a cotton ball under the pinky finger and ring finger up against their palm. Forces them to hold the pencil in the correct position.
I havent order the kit yet for howot.. but i will. Just not sure what to order. She has heard good things about it also, they just dont use it in her school.

 

[fakereadhed]

My DD did handwriting without tears with OT in school. We also did the play-doh and exercises. What really helped her was using grid paper so she could place each letter in it's own space. They have it at Dollar Tree. Works great for practice! I would also ask for an OT eval to see if they could work with him.

Just an aside, DD also had a very high reading level. She started reading at 4 and read chapter books by 5. The handwriting never worked due to low tone in her hands. So at 13 her writing is pretty much illegible, unless she uses the grid paper, but uses and alphasmart keyboard at school.She uses a keyboard like crazy and that is what most of us use anyway, but I am glad we did the handwriting without tears program because it did improve it greatly.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

if you want "letter" pages to use, here is a great website.

http://www.learningpage.com/free_pages/galleries/basics.html

they have both zaner-bloser and D'Nealian options.

 

[Mkrop]

DS4 works with an OT(low muscle tone in his trunk, hypotonia) and she is starting the Handwriting Without Tears Program. She has him string beads (the Melissa and Doug set with the letters and shapes in wonderful, tiny enough yet manageable,and he learns his shapes and letters too one set I bought was awful)

She also has hidden objects in silly putty and he has to work them out

He loves her newest toy, Popper People or something like that, small beads that he has to pop together to make people, robot or dogs. It comes with abook and the beads. I have seen it in book stores but could not find online so I must be misnaming slightly. Legos stuff like that.

Also the markers that can write over each other, she will write the letter in one color and then DS comes along and traces her letter with another color. Even having him trace lines and curves too.

This is something we found out about and in a restaurant, they gave it to the kids to keep them busy, they loved it and when I mentioned it to the OT she said they are awesome but dont last very long but she definitely recommened getting them. Wikki sticks http://wikkistix.com/otuses.htm

Also be careful about assuming you can write on the paper in the exam room at Dr's offices, ask first, I did this with DS and the Dr ask not to again bc it can sometimes got through the paper and mess up their tables. Who knew????

DS9 also had terrible handwriting but was an early reader. He actually got turtoring for handwriting by one of the retired nuns and he did awesome. He had problems not only with writing being sloppy but undertanding the concept of the red margin and that is where you should start and heaven forbid if they folded the paper in half to have two columns. Smartest kid in class but had real spatial visual problems, got glasses shortly after this too so that may have palyed a role.

Good luck.

 

[Mkrop]

OP not speciafically to you but to any one reading who has handwriting issues

please dont downplay any issues with handwriting and fine motor skills, oh these kids wont write any more with computers etc. Both the OT and a third grade teacher told me that there are studies coming out saying the lack of OT skills in our kids are affecting other areas of academics.

There have been lots of studies about crawling on all fours and reading skills -same concept.

 

[fakereadhed]

OP not speciafically to you but to any one reading who has handwriting issues

please dont downplay any issues with handwriting and fine motor skills, oh these kids wont write any more with computers etc. Both the OT and a third grade teacher told me that there are studies coming out saying the lack of OT skills in our kids are affecting other areas of academics.

There have been lots of studies about crawling on all fours and reading skills -same concept.

While I agree that it is definitely worth addressing handwriting, for certain kids it isn't physically possible for them to write for long periods of time. The problem is as they get older, they have to work so hard to grip the pencil and form legible writing that they fall behind, tire, or give up on their assignments. If the issue doesn't resolve by middle school it may be time to move on so that grades will reflect student's learning, not writing abilities.

 

[DisTeacher07]

zaner bloser has it's own website with free printable worksheets for every letter of the alphabet. Your 5 year old can trace the letters and then try it in their own

 

[dis-happy]

We homeschool and I also recommend Handwriting Without Tears.

Also, I have a set of wooden letters, approx. 3-4" in size that are great. Your child may need to feel with his hands what the letter feels like, manipulate it, run his fingers over it to really get into his mind what shape the letter is supposed to be. Try a teacher supply company.

Another option: cut out sandpaper letters for the child to trace over with his finger. Again, the tactile element can help with learning.

 

[Mkrop]

While I agree that it is definitely worth addressing handwriting, for certain kids it isn't physically possible for them to write for long periods of time. The problem is as they get older, they have to work so hard to grip the pencil and form legible writing that they fall behind, tire, or give up on their assignments. If the issue doesn't resolve by middle school it may be time to move on so that grades will reflect student's learning, not writing abilities.

yes but I was told with early intervention then can build on this so endurance is not an issue as they get older

DS4 has low muscle tone in his trunk, think along the lines of Pilates, if the core is strengthen then the extremities can strengthen. His endurance is not what a 4 yr olds should be but it has greatly improved from where it started. He may always need to work on his core so endurance issue in gross and fine motor skills do not become issues in the future.

The reason I stated my post like I did is that too many people do not get help early and just assume there may not be an issue, he/she will outgrow it, which is why I think many here recommended the OT eval, find out if there truly is a problem that can be tackled or will need accomdations in the future. I had so many people not recognize DS4's issue, oh he will just be a later walker etc it wasnt until we got him evaluated that he got the help he needed and started devleloping like he should. He may always have issues but with eraly intervention we (PT, OT us, teachers etc) are working to minimize these issues and the frustration and endurance that could come into play later.

His OT told me that sometime she doesnt get some of these kids until 5th grade and by then there is only so much that can be done to help them. More progress could have been made if they started younger and certain bad habits could have been avoided.

 

[fakereadhed]

The reason I stated my post like I did is that too many people do not get help early and just assume there may not be an issue, he/she will outgrow it, which is why I think many here recommended the OT eval, find out if there truly is a problem that can be tackled or will need accomdations in the future. I had so many people not recognize DS4's issue, oh he will just be a later walker etc it wasnt until we got him evaluated that he got the help he needed and started devleloping like he should. He may always have issues but with eraly intervention we (PT, OT us, teachers etc) are working to minimize these issues and the frustration and endurance that could come into play later.

His OT told me that sometime she doesnt get some of these kids until 5th grade and by then there is only so much that can be done to help them. More progress could have been made if they started younger and certain bad habits could have been avoided.

Great post!

 

[ajsmommy1129]

My DS5 can write, and nicely for the most part, but likes to try and "speed" write...he is just too busy. The only letter he really has a problem with is lower case e, and we are working with him on that. Will any of these help hm to slow down? I have another question, a little OT, but his name is Alexander Jordan. We have always called him AJ, never Alex. Well, we got a note saying that he can not put AJ on his papers, but if Alexander is too long, he can use Alex. Well, he has NEVER been an Alex. Is this some rule I don't know about? I mean, why does the school feel they have the right to pick his nickname? I very nicely replied to the note that he has never been, and will never be, an Alex. I am teaching him Alexander. I also added to the note that he was not to be called Alex, and that if the teacher called him Alexander on a regular basis, he was going to think he was in trouble, since that is normally when he is called Alexander. Anyone else ever dealt with something like this?

 

[PudgetteD]

My DS5 can write, and nicely for the most part, but likes to try and "speed" write...he is just too busy. The only letter he really has a problem with is lower case e, and we are working with him on that. Will any of these help hm to slow down? I have another question, a little OT, but his name is Alexander Jordan. We have always called him AJ, never Alex. Well, we got a note saying that he can not put AJ on his papers, but if Alexander is too long, he can use Alex. Well, he has NEVER been an Alex. Is this some rule I don't know about? I mean, why does the school feel they have the right to pick his nickname? I very nicely replied to the note that he has never been, and will never be, an Alex. I am teaching him Alexander. I also added to the note that he was not to be called Alex, and that if the teacher called him Alexander on a regular basis, he was going to think he was in trouble, since that is normally when he is called Alexander. Anyone else ever dealt with something like this?

DS is Mathew Aaron. He's always been called Aaron. K teacher insisted on calling him Mathew, misspelled with 2 t's on every paper! It only took about a week of Aaron not responding to "Mathew" for her to get the hint. I OK'd it with the principal BEFORE telling him to do this.

 

[ajsmommy1129]

DS is Mathew Aaron. He's always been called Aaron. K teacher insisted on calling him Mathew, misspelled with 2 t's on every paper! It only took about a week of Aaron not responding to "Mathew" for her to get the hint. I OK'd it with the principal BEFORE telling him to do this.

Thanks...I don't have to tell my DS not to respond to Alex, he just doesn't...it's not his name, he never responds to it. I am going to call the principal on Tuesday.

 

[ilovejack02]

My DS5 can write, and nicely for the most part, but likes to try and "speed" write...he is just too busy. The only letter he really has a problem with is lower case e, and we are working with him on that. Will any of these help hm to slow down? I have another question, a little OT, but his name is Alexander Jordan. We have always called him AJ, never Alex. Well, we got a note saying that he can not put AJ on his papers, but if Alexander is too long, he can use Alex. Well, he has NEVER been an Alex. Is this some rule I don't know about? I mean, why does the school feel they have the right to pick his nickname? I very nicely replied to the note that he has never been, and will never be, an Alex. I am teaching him Alexander. I also added to the note that he was not to be called Alex, and that if the teacher called him Alexander on a regular basis, he was going to think he was in trouble, since that is normally when he is called Alexander. Anyone else ever dealt with something like this?

I would firmly let her know that he was to be called AJ and that is how he would be writing his name at all times. Case closed.
Unless she gave birth to him, she doesnt get to change his name.

 

[mamaloya]

My dd11, who is dyslexic, uses handwriting w/o tears and it has made a miraculous difference. We also bought the chalkboard. She also finds using a chubby pencil much easier than using the skinny ones. I bought them for dd4, but she took them over. I now must buy more. They are hard to find though. For some reason K teachers are not using chubby pencils anymore.

 

[Mkrop]

My dd11, who is dyslexic, uses handwriting w/o tears and it has made a miraculous difference. We also bought the chalkboard. She also finds using a chubby pencil much easier than using the skinny ones. I bought them for dd4, but she took them over. I now must buy more. They are hard to find though. For some reason K teachers are not using chubby pencils anymore.

Ours do I got them at Staples, years ago and I did see them there when we were school shopping. Thye only sell 2 to a pack but theyw ere worth it.

Yes DS4's Ot says all he should be writing with all chubby things. She loves the Pipsqueak markers by Crayola and all her crayons are broken and fat.